


I Feel Cold

by Saint_Valentine



Category: Voltron - Fandom
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:02:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 13
Words: 13,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23215954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saint_Valentine/pseuds/Saint_Valentine
Relationships: Lance/Keith
Comments: 5
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kiara Voye who I owe everything to.](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Kiara+Voye+who+I+owe+everything+to.).



Keith stepped out of the old car slowly, his feet crunching in the gravel.  
"See your new home Keith? You like, si?" Mrs. McLain rushed around the car, grabbing Keith's only suitcase. He tried to take it himself, but the motherly woman insisted..  
"I want you to feel welcome, mijo! I want you to feel comfortable in my home.  
\------------------  
"And this..." Lance opened the door with an unnecessary flourish. "Is our room!" Half of it is all green sheets and empty shelves, the other half messy with paperbacks and CDs and messy sheets on the floor.  
"it's a before and after photo..." Keith said dryly, surveying the room before him.  
Lance laughed. "I know, right? I didn't have time to clean up." He sat down on a directors chair placed at the door of Keith's bed. "So tell me about yourself. What's your name?"  
Keith looked at him in surprise. "You don't know my name? Doesn't Missy tell you anything?"(Missy is Mrs. McLain)  
Lance's smile didn't vaulter at the obviouss insult. "Naw. She wanted you to be a surprise! Come on, give me three things about you that everybody knows"  
Keith starred at Lance for a second. Could anyone really be that innocent at seventeen? "I'm Keith." He said. "I'm an orphan. And i do karate." He winced internally at mentioning karate. No one knew that about him, and Lance didn't exactly seem the type to keep his mouth shut.  
Sure enough, Lance's eyes went wide. "You know karate? Are you a black belt? How long did you train? Can you do the wood-chop things? Do you-" Keith cut off his enthusiastic blabber with a glare.  
"I don't like to talk about it." He said plainly. But Lance looked so hurt that Keith sighed and gave into the interigation. "Fine. Yes. Yes. My whole life. Yes, but no one really enjoys it."  
Lance's smile filled his face. "I can't wait for everyone to hear! Momma and Rachel and Daniel probably won't be impressed, Benjamin and Cleo are pacifists, so maybe don't brag about it to them... The little kids, you know, Mateo and Josephine and Baby Bella? They're gonna eat it up! The family is gonna love this!" Lance started for the door, flinging it open, but Keith grabbed his arm and spun him into a headlock. The brunette gasped in surprise.  
"They are not my family. They are yours. And you will not tell them that I know karate."  
"But-" Lance choked.  
"Understood?" he pulled his arm tighter, making Lance choke.  
"Alright, asshole, I get the message. Let me go!"  
Keith flung him across the floor, and he rubbed his throat w with one hand, wiping tears from his eyes with the other.  
"Fine. I don't see why the karate thing is such a big deal, though. I won't tell them, but if you're going to be a dick to this family, don't play the littles." Lance pulled himself up by the door-jam. "Don't get to close. And leave as soon as you can. I don't want you hurting my family. Got that?"  
Keith cocked one eyebrow at him. "you know that I could physically hurt you right now just fro having condisions?"  
Lance nodded coldly. "Yeah, but you won't, because you like the deal. It makes it easy on you if you just dissapeared."  
He was right, of course. So Keith agreed. He stayed away from the McLains as much as he could. Issabella didn't know his name, Mateo and Josephine were indifferent to him at best. He only baby sat when he had to, and if he had free time from work and school, he was out somewhere. No one could tell you where but Sophia, and she kept her mouth shut.  
When he turned eighteen, Lance woke up to an empty bedroom, his mother and Sophia sobbing silently in the kitchen.  
Lance barged in. "What happened? Is it Keith? That bastard, I swear I'll kill him. His ass is already dead if he-"  
"Shh, mijo, you make it worse." Missy whined. "Keith is gone. He left us each a letter of parting."  
Sophia choked down another sob. "He never even unpacked his bags, momma." She confessed. "I will miss him so..."  
"He was a dick!" Lance said. "The things I could tell you about him..."  
Sophia shook her head, crumpling the paper in her hands. "I could tell you some things too. I was close to him. But I loved him anyway... Even if he wouldn't let me.."  
\---------------------------  
Five years after Keith's eighteenth birthday, to the day,, every McLain received a letter. 

"Dear McLain Family Member,"  
"You are invited to the first semi-annual McLain Family Reunion."


	2. Travel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, this is my second time trying to write this chapter... I am really bad at saving my data.  
> Comment #CORONACANCEL if your school/work/extracurricular have been canceled by the COVID-19. It just hit my town, so I am out for almost 2 months.  
> BL warning: Don't like? Don't read.

Keith slugged out of bed into the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee. On the fridge, his invite to the McLain house was posted,, with a note from his roommate/father-figure, Shiro.  
"Today's the reunion." It said. "No excuses. Make amends. If you're here when I get back, I'm trashing your cigarettes and stealing your ID. Have fun! :)"  
He groaned and finished his coffee. As he walked to his room, he shouted to Shiro's husband. "Hey Addam?" He called. "What time does dad get home?"  
\-----------------------  
Lance threw the last of his bags into the car, despite Allura's protests.  
"You can't leave me like this!" She shouted as she followed him down the lawn, pulling her robe tight around her. "We need to talk about this like adults! Stop being dramatic-"  
"Dramatic? You cheated on me with biggest asshole I know. When am I going to want to talk about this rationally?" He was furious, and he didn't care how bad he hurt her. She had broken his heart, and this was his revenge. He held out his hand with a breath and her tear-streaked face paled.  
"No, but..."  
"Give it to me." He said coldly. "I'm leaving you everything else. Be fair for once in your goddamn life." She sobbed and pulled the ring off her finger. God entwined with silver, and a small box-shaped dimond. It matched the one on Lance's hand, and she pressed it into his palm with a stunned, cold silence.  
He turrned and walked to the car, turning the ignition twice before it started.  
"Are you really leaving, Lance?" Allura whispered from beside the car. Lance dropped both rings into the cup holder and pulled out of the driveway. He knew Allura was watching, hopping he'd turn back.  
He didn't.  
\------------------------

Q  
Rachel and Daniel were busy making up the guest rooms of thesecond house. Rushng around with sheets and vacuums,the building was spotless before you could say "Hasta la vista, dirt!"  
But Rachel was tense. She sat down on a freshly made bed while waiting for Daniel to bring her a pillowcase, and she dropped her head into her hands as though she had a headache. She would probably get one, come to think of it, just from worrying so much. Daniel cam in and saw her like that, and immediately dropped the fabric in his hands onto the dresser and sat down next to her, and arm around her shoulder.  
"Hey." He said, giving her a gentle squeeze. "Little sis? You alright?"  
She sniffed and leaned into him. "We're twins, goddamnit. I'm not little."  
He pulled his sister tighter against him. "Come on, Rach. What's on your mind? Are you nervous every because it's been so long since you've seen everyone? You shouldn't be. They wouldn't forget you, you know. It's only been a few years."  
She shook her head. "Keith's comming."  
Daniel pulled away a bit, sea-blue eyes wide "He is?"  
Rachel looked up at him. "At least, he was invited. I saw the envelope."  
"What is momma thinking..."  
"I don't know!" Rachel cried with a smal, anxious laugh. "The littles won't ember him, but if Sophia finds out he was invited, and then he doesn't show..."  
Daniel shook his head and his twin dropped her face to the crook of his shoulder. "This is a go damn disaster." He said.  
"Yeah." Rachel agreed. "Especially if we all try to kill him at once. That'll end like Caesar."  
"Bloodshed in all the wrong ways?"  
Rachel sighed into her brother's tee shirt. "Is there a right way?"  
\-----------------

Keith was perched in his usual spot, cigarette dangling between his lips. He had free period now, and he had taken to coming here. The caffe was off limits because Lance and his nerdy friends had lunch. He couldn't go to the library because that meant Coran or Allura, and he wasen't exactly the blonde's biggest fan. He couldn't chill in the computer lab because Lotar was a tech genius and Missy had started to worry when he came home with bruises. So he would go behind the school, across the field, behind he bleachers, and up the hill to an old stone wall. Keith would sit and smoke and scold himself for finding Lance attractive. He would snack or read or do homework, or(in his weakest moments) draw. Today was a combination smoking and drawing day. He was sketching a bird that stood a few feet away.   
Today obviously wasen't his day, though, because multiple laughing voices came up through the trees. Keith dropped one hand to his pocket for a mile second, making sure his blade was still there. It was, not that he would need it.   
Lance, Allura, Lotar, and Coran came up through the brush, sodas in hand. Upon seeing Keith, the laughter stopped. Lance hooked a protective arm around Allura, and Coran took a nervous step behind Lotar. They knew what he was capable of.   
"Kogane." Lotar greeted him. Keith closed his sketchbook and hopped off the wall, exhaling smoke directly into the taller man's face, making him cough.   
"If it isn't everyone I come here to avoid, all together again. Do your bruises need refreshing from last time you pissed me off."   
Keith knew a fight was comming, and he'd be damned if he didn't have a part in it.   
Surprising everyone, Coran pushed forward and grabbed the sketchbook. "Let's see what our in house artiste has show!" He said, tossing it to Lotar. Keith hesitated before taking a firm step forward.   
"Give it back."   
"Or what?" Allura laughed. "You'll call your mommy? Oh, wait.." She fake pouted with a devious glint in her eyes. "You don't have one."   
Keith grabbed her by the front of her shirt and yanked her away from Lance, lifting her off the ground. "I never hit ladies." He told her. "But I'm not sure you count." He punched her, hard, ignoring the feel of Lance pulling on his shoulders. He turned out all sounds except for his fist driving into her nose and making a sickening crack. Blood poured out and Allura screamed as he dropped her.   
Keith took a breath and reached behind his, grabbing Lance by the shoulder and flipping him onto the ground.   
Lance cried out as his arm bent beneath him, breaking his fall.   
Keith eyed Lotar and Coran, who were starring at him with fear and anger and... Jealousy? Did they wish they could fight like Keith?   
"Who's next." It wasen't a question, and as soon as the words were out, he jumped into the air, spinning and nocking the sketchbook from Lotar's hands, then landing another kick across his face. Lotar collapsed unconscious and Coran took off running.   
"You're fucking insane, man!" he shouted as he disappeared, stumbling down the hill. Lance scooped up Allura and walked away with ought a word. Keith scooped up his sketchbook and walked away from the wall, in the opposite direction from the school.   
"Just 2 more months." He thought to himself. "And I can forget this place even exists." 

-Flashback End-


	3. Travel and Arival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, again. Flashbacks, traveling, seeing the rest of the McLains. I think I'm gonna do Keith and Lance's reunion and Keith and Sophia's reunion on the next chapter, so... Yeah.   
> Again, BL warning: Don't like? Don't read.   
> Coment #CORONACANCEL if you're sitting around reading bad fan fiction because... What else are you going to do? Thanks for choosing my bad fanfic. Last I checked I got 55 hits on this fic. That makes me happy, so let's boost that number and make me extacict, yes? Okay, enjoy the chapter. I'm sorry it's unedited.

Keith's phone wrong while he was parked in the lot of a McDonalds. He hadn't seen the number in almost 5 years.   
His screen lit up to show the caller ID.   
"Soph."   
It wasen't that he didn't want to talk to her, it was that he didn't want to hear about Missy and Benjamin and Cleo and everyone else he tried to forget. They had kept contact for the first year after he moved out, but eventually... He stopped answering her calls, and after a month, she stopped calling. No longer was his voicemail a painful memory. No longer was he wearing his data thin with long-distance calls.   
He swiped to ignore the call. He would see her and everyone soon enough. It was just procrastinating, but he wanted to put off the -unhappy-reunion as long as he could.   
"Are you afraid that they'll still hate you?" Addam had asked.   
"I'm not afraid, and it's not a mystery." Keith had told him. "I know that they'll still hate me."   
\-----------------------  
Sophia had received a call about an hour ago informing her that Keith Kogane had been invited to the reunion. This filled her with emotions and tears that she thought she abandoned. She was so happy she would see him again! But she was frightened he didn't want to see her, after all, he'd stopped answering he calls and messages. She was angry that he had ignored her, but understanding because it hurt him to think about his time with the McLains. She knew some shit had gone down between him and Lance, and as she drove down I95, repeatedly telling Siri to call Keith-but never getting an answer- she hopped that her brother's feud with Keith wouldn't stop him from comming. All she wanted was for Keith to accept that he was their family. Though, it seemed less and less likely with ever year he was gone.   
With every Christmas he didn't send a card.  
With every birthday he didn't call.   
Even when Lance asked about him 3 years ago, tried calling him himself, nothing came.   
It was like Keith Kogane had disappeared.   
\----------------------  
Benjamin and Cleo were stuck in Boston traffic.   
Cleo groaned as her phone died, and tossed it against the seat.   
"You'll break it if you do that." Benjamin scolded his older sister. "What would mamma say if you killed another phone?"   
" 'I'm not buying you another, mijo!' " Cleo perfectly imitated their mother, making Ben laugh. " 'No more Mrs-Nice-Mami'" Shje cracked up, ignoring the seatbelt and straining against it. Laughing at her own jokes was just part of Cleo's charm.   
"Are you exited for the reunion, little brother?" Cleo asked once she was finished giggling. "You only left a few months ago, and your already being called back."   
Benjamin shook his head. "I should have made Sophia or Lance drive you, asshole. Don't rub it in."   
The radio switched itself off, and Benjamin's ringtone sang through the car.   
"The death of a bachelor.." Cleo cracked up at hearing Panic! At the Disco ring.   
He clicked to answer the phone.   
"Hey, it's Benjamin McLain." he said professionally.   
"And his big sister Cleo!" The girl shouted from the backseat, and Ben glared at her.   
"Oh, good, you already picked her up. That means your close, si mijo?" His mother's voice crackled through the speakers.   
"Yes mami, just a few hours. Though I'm starting to think I should have-" He cleared his throat."-Forgotton to pick up Cleo."   
"Tsk." His mother clicked her tounge as Cleo stuck her tounge out at him. "You should not talk about your sister that way, not to your mother. Now say you love each other, si?"   
Cleo groaned. "But you always told us not to lie to our family, mami." Benjamin reached around to swat get.   
"Shut up! I will drive all the way back to Maine to get rid of you, if that's what it takes."   
"Benjamin! Cleo!" Missy shouted through the phone. "Just say it so I can get on with the thing I called about."   
Cleo rolled her eyes, knowing it was useless to argue with her. "Love ya, Benny."   
"Love you too, Cleo." He grumbled back.  
"Bueno." She said, a smile in her voice. "Now, I need to tell you... You may be, how you say, upset with me? I have invited someone who isn't a family member to the reunion."   
Benjamin and Cleo exchanged a confused look.   
"Who, mamma?" Ben asked.   
The line was dead for a second, only their mothers soft breathing audible.   
"Mami?" Cleo asked.   
"I've invited Keith Kogane."   
\-----------------------  
Lance's phone rang and he ignored it, being that he was driving.   
"Hi, you've reached Lance McLain." His voicemail message filled the car. "I can't answer the phone right now, but leave a message and I'll get back to you! Thanks." A beep followed, and Allura's diluted voice came on.   
"Lance, I know you're driving, but I needed to apologies, you know, formally. I'm sorry that I cheated on you, and I don't want us to be over, you know? Like, I was being stupid, and it meant nothing. If you can call me, I... I just want to talk."   
A click, and Lance was again surrounded by silence. He sighed, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.   
Why did she want to talk? She hadn't seemed to want to respect him at all the last 2 days.   
He had stayed with her, moving in together straight out of high school, 5 years ago. They had been fine, if a bit distant-but they had always been that way. 3 years ago, Lance decided that he couldn't just stay her boyfriend, or she would leave him. So he proposed, and she said yes. It wasen't a big deal. They stayed engaged for 3 years, and she told him she was planning the wedding, but whenever he checked, nothing had been done. No flowers, no venue, no invitations, and no priest. He was going to ask her about this, tell her his concerns like a mature person in a relationship, when he walked in on her sitting in Lotar's lap, kissing him like she had kissed Lance in highschool. She hadn't even said anything, just left with Lotar in his car, leaving Lance alone and confused.   
Why did she want to talk? She hadn't seemed to want to respect him at all the last 2 days.   
\-----------------------

-Flashback-  
"Date night tonight?" Lance said into his cell.   
"Sure hon. Meet me at the waterfront at 8?" Allura seemed distracted, but Lance ignored it. He knew better than to ask.   
"Ok. See you then. Love you, babe."   
"Hmm." She hung up without having much goodbye.   
At 8, Lance was sitting on a park bench on the waterfront. Allura came over in a loose purple dress, looking as stunning and erythropoietin as always. No wonder she was a model.   
"Hey babe." He said, giving her a light kiss as she approached.  
"Hey." She said. 'Want to eat?"   
He nodded and they went to her favorite restaurant. After desert, as they waited for the check, he slid a black box across the table.   
Allura looked at him in surprise, and took it carefully, like she expected it to explode.   
On opening it, her eyes went even wider, completing the innocent look she had going. Lance slipped off his chair onto one knee. He heard surrounding tables gasp.   
"Marry me?" he asked.   
Allura looked at him, then at the matching rings in the box, then smiled deviously. Like she had a plan. She reached out and pulled him to his feet, kissing him hard on the mouth, much to Lance's surprise.   
Her mouth was twisted Emily when she pulled away.   
"Yup."


	4. House of Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, Lance and Keith seeing each other for the first time in 5 years. Angst and violence warning?   
> Comment #CORONACANCEL if you had to stop the planning of a event because of this pandemic.   
> Again, unedited. So so so so sorry! I cannot express my apologies enough.

Lance's car was not the first to pull in, and it would not be the last. He parked in front of the old green house beside a shiny blue Chrysler. On his other side was an old red Ford pickup with dents and scratches, and one twilight out. He couldn't see any signs of life on his childhood farm and he took a deep breath, counting down for his siblings to come running.   
"3...4...5..." His little brother Mateo(Now 11) came through the screen, a pile of blue sheets in his arms, his chin resting on top. He saw Lance standing next to his car, closing his door slowly. Mateo dropped the sheets on the ground and ran at him.   
"Lance!" he screamed, throwing his arms around the brunette's waist. He head was about chest height, and Lance's heart tugged because Mateo had been 6 and his head had hit his hips that last time he same him. He dropped to his knees to be more on the boys level.   
"Little brother..." He mused, holding his shoulders to look him over. "You've gotten so tall since I left." Mateo hugged Lance hard around his shoulders.   
"I misse you, man." He sniffed, and :ace realized he was crying a bit. he hugged the small child tightly against him.  
Josephine came through ther door with a scowl, scooping up the sheets Mateo had dropped.   
"Mateo, you were supposed to take theses to Daniel-" She stopped, her eyes wide as she say her older brother. "Lance!" She squealed, grabbing 6-year-old Bella's hand and running down the steps, abandoning the sheets.   
Lance wrapped all three of his youngest siblings in a hug. Issabella didn't seem to recognize him, since she'd been 1 when he left. That made Lance so sad that he started to tear up as well, clutching the young kids against him. Then his mother came through the door and smiled in that soft manner she had, putting the sheets on the porch table.   
"Hola mijo." She said quietly. Lance pushed his siblings off and ran up the steps easily, grabbing Missy tightly and spinning her around, making her laugh.   
"Hi momma." He said, leaning over to burry his face in her shoulder. She moved soothed her hand over his back.   
"How's that girl of yours?" She asked, pulling back to hold Lance's shoulders, inspecting him critiquely. "You still together?"   
Lance when still in his mother's hands, and she noticed, moving her eyes to his face.   
"No." He said. "I broke up with her today. She-" he took a breath to calm himself for the the kids. "She cheated on me."   
Missy's face softened. "Oh mijo..."   
Lance tugged away, taking her hands. "I don't wanna talk about it now. Is everyone else here?"   
Missy nodded. "Almost. Daniel and Rachel never left, Benjamin got here an hour ago, Mateo Issabella and Josephine never left, and Sophia just texted saying she would be here any minute. And Keith-"  
"Wait, you invited Kieth?" Lance took a step back and narrowed his eyes. "Why would you do that?"   
Missy sighed. "He's my son, Lance. Accept that."  
"I will not! You know what he did to us! to Sophia! How long did it take for him to stop answering her calls, mamma? Any of our calls?"   
His mom was starting to get teary. "I just wanted-"   
"What mami?" Lance shouted. "To destroy us all over again? Do you know what that man is capable of? What I've seen him do to people?"   
Missy shook her head. "I don't want to. I just want my son to be part of your family." And she turrned and went inside with ought another word.   
With an exasperated sigh, Lance dropped to a seat on the steps, massageing his temples.   
Mateo sat down next to carefully.   
"Lance?" He started.   
"Mmm?"   
"Who's Keith?"   
Lance looked up slowly, stacking his hands in his lap."He's..." Lance, for once in his life, was at a loss for words. What was Keith? Not a monster; he was smarter than that. Not a demon; he was too merciful. Not an angel; he was too devious.   
"A fallen angel." Lance settled. "A dangerous, mislead man. he lived with us for 2 years and left us in peices."   
Josephine's eyes went wide. She was older than Mateo by a year, and she rembering him. She rembering him and Lance fighting late at night, him comming home covered in bruises, but smiling like a bitch. She rembering do how kind he was to Sophia. How distant he kept himself from her and Mateo and baby Bella. Josephine didn't think he was a fallen angel, far from our care... She thought he was misguided and maybe... Afraid.   
As if on cue, a car nearly identical to NightRider pulled into the cul-de-sac driveway. The tinted windows didn't allow for a view, but Lance was pretty sure he knew who was in there. He stood and stepped off the stairs, motioning to the younger kids to stay behind him.   
Benjamin and Cleo came walking out of the red barn where they kept the animal, walking slowly around the car. Daniel and Rachel came out of the guest house, running towards them, standing firm and poised to strike. Missy came out onto the porch.   
Keith saw the audience collecting and slowly stopped his car. With a sigh, he opened the door.   
Keith stepped out slowly, his feet crunching in the gravel. He looked around him warily and pulled off his sunglasses, revealing his deep violet eyes that that made men and women alike swoon. He wore a black knit cap over his long-ish black hair, a leather jacket over a white Panic! At The Disco tee, and torn grey jeans. He had shiny doc martins and biker gloves on and a gun sat in a holster on his hip.   
He saw Missy and smiled. It was a rare sight, Keith smiling. It was meek, shy, and entirely genuine.   
"Hey Missy." He said. Missy gave him a wave, one hand covering her mouth as she silently sobbed.   
Keith dropped his eyes to the line of people in front of him. "Hey guys." He said with a carefull smirk.   
" 'Hey guys'?" Lance mocked. "That's all you got? You fuck up our lives and disappear for 5 years, then you show up for a FAMILY EVENT and all you've got is 'Hey guys'?!?" Lance balled his fists at his sides, his knuckles going white.   
"Uh, yeah." Keith said slowly. "Is that a problem?"  
"Yeah it's a fucking problem!" Cleo screamed, lunging at him, beating on his chest uselessly with her fists. "Did you see how Sophia got when you left?" She was drooling a bit as Benjamin pulled her back. She gripped her brother's arms tighter than she had too. "You god damn bastard! YTou god damn fucking bastard!"   
Issabella whimpered from behind the line and Rachel scooped her up, leading her to the animal pens.   
Keith took a shakes breath at the mention of Sophia. "Look..." He said. "I know I'm a bastard. you don't have to tell me. What I did was wrong, not that I need to tell you that. I should have... Tried." He clipped his words, his face bunched up as he tried to find the right words. "For Sophia. And for Missy. I... I didn't want any ties after I left. I had to build a life. A... I had to rebuild me before I could have a family."   
He looked up at Missy, who was now chocking on tears. "I know these men, Shiro and his husband Addam... They took me in. They're like parents to me." He turrned his eyes back to Lance, holding eye contact as best he could. "I have a me now. And you don't have to forgive me. Just.... Give me a chance to redeem myself. Please."   
Daniel looked at him for a moment, then nodded. He turned silently and followed Rachel to help with Issabella. Cleo and Benjamin's faces were pale, but they managed to respond.   
"One more chance, man." Benjamin said, shaking Keith's hand. "I don't know how your gonna do it, but I wish you luck. Because right now, to this family?" He waved his hand at the farm around them. "You're just a dick." Cleo shook his hand as well and they returned stiffly to their rooms.   
Lance turrned and started to lead Mateo and Josephine up the stairs, but Josephine pushed past him, running up to Keith.   
"I forgive you." She said quietly. Then she took his hand-bigger than hers by half, with long slender fingers and black-painted nails- and pulled him towards the guest house. "I'll show you your room."   
Mateo nodded and rand to the car, pulling two duffel sout of the back seat, handing one to Keith and taking the other. "Come on." He said with a thin smile. "Your gonna love your new room."


	5. House of Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, this entire chapter is a flashback. SMUTT WARRNING BL WARRNING DONT LIKE DONT READ just saying...  
> Comment #CORONACANCEL if you can't buy toilet paper anywhere. COVID-19 isn't even a stomach-type sickness, so I don't see why that's a problem.   
> AGAIN BL WARNING: DONT LIKE DONT READ just saying, can't say I didn't warn you. AGAIN this chapter is a flashback so you can't say I didn't tell you.   
> Sorry it's unedited. Please read and enjoy.

-Flashback-

"What are you doing?" Keith opened his eyes groggily as Lance perched on the edge of the bed, quivering. "What? What's wrong?" He pulled himself to sitting when he saw tears dripping steadily onto his bed. He tugged Lance's waist so he was hugging him slightly.   
Maybe it was because Keith was still half asleep, maybe it was because Lance looked so broken, but Keith had a sudden urge to steal Lance away and protect him from the world.   
"Talk to me, Lance." He said quietly,, wrapping his arms around the brunette, holding him tight against his chest.   
"S-Sophia..." He managed to stutter, nearly inaudible.   
Keith went stiff. "What about Soph?" He asked. If anyone had hurt her, he swore he would kill them slowly, in as painful a way as possible. Sophia was a baby that needed his constant care, and he was happy to give it.   
Lance shook his head. "She's fine. She just loves y-you s-s-s-so m-m-m-m-m..." Lance was loosing control and Keith shushed him.   
"Calm down, Lance." He said, kissing him gently on the top of his head. "You'll be fine. Just tell me."   
Lance took a deep breath, surprisingly consoled by the action. "Sophia loves you so much. And she thinks we should give you a chance. But instead, I want to..."   
Keith was surprised. "What?"   
Lance sighed and pressed his mouth to Keith's neck, making him blush hard.   
"I want to kiss you and forget you in the morning."   
Keith carefully turrned Lance to face him, cupping his face with one hand, pressing the other hand to his thigh.   
With a slow breath to get his heart under control, he said. "Then do it."   
So Lance did, with ought hesitation. He covered Keth's mouth with his, his lips warm in comparison to the other boys, which were cool and drowsy from sleep. The pressure of Lance's kiss forced Keith's open and their tounges danced, Lance tasting every bit of Keith, choking him as he touched the tip of his tounges to the back of the other boy's throat. Their lips moved in perfect synce, fitting together like puzzle peices. Lance pulled away first, tracing light kisses down Keith's bare chest.   
"Y-You said kiss me and forget it." Keith breathed, trying to sound meaner than he felt. "Not get me hard for no reason."  
Lance sucked just under Keith's chin, leaving a dark hickey that wouldn't go away for a while, then returned to gently tracing down his abdomen.   
"I changed my mind." 

The next morning, Keith woke Sophia up early, blushing like a madman.   
Her eyes went wide, landing imidiatly on the obvious love-bite on his neck.   
"What-" She started, but Keith didn't let her finish.   
"Blame Keith." He said. "I assume you have cover up?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHA did I scare you with the mutt WARRNING? MWAHAHAHAHA! I AM A DEMON!!!   
> I note no one has been commenting. I specifically asked you to. Please, tell me what you think. Be bruetelly honest. I beg of you.


	6. Which Way Is Home?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I FINALY HAVE AN IDEA OF HOW TO CONTINUE THE PLOT! WHOOO HOO!  
> Comment #CORONACANCEL if you don't read the descriptions on my works.

Keith woke up late, starring at a foreign ceiling in a near-empty room. It reminded him of his first night here, Lance sleeping across the room, turned away from him. His 2 bags on the floor near the foot of his bed. He rolled onto his side and gazed at the empty couch where, in his old room, Lance's bed would have been. He sighed. It was hard to sleep here without counting Lance's breaths, making sure he was awake.   
Keith pulled himself to his feet, stretching and hearing the pop in his back. Pulling on a tank-top and grabbing his cell, he figured he could catch up with work if he wasn't going to sleep.   
Wandering out to a place he used to sit at night, behind the red barn on an old wooden bench, he clicked over to his contacts, opening the one that said "Jack". He hesitated, not sure if his friend would be awake, then hit call.   
Holding it to his ear, he listened to it ring once, twice, then a click.   
"Don't you field agents ever sleep?" Jack's voice carried through.   
"You know I don't," Keith answered. "Did I wake you?"   
"Naw, I got tons of paperwork to do. You, my dear, are a happy distraction." Jack had a way of joking like that that made Keith's heart flutter.  
"So how did the family take your arrival." He asked.   
Keith shook his head before remembering that Jack couldn't see him. "Not well. The youngest is afraid of me, Cleo and Benjamin are distant and unforgiving, Daniel and Rachel agreed to give me a second chance, but only Mateo and Josephine forgave me completely."   
"11 and 12, and the most mature of all of them." Jack chuckled, proud of himself for remembering their ages. "Lance and Sophia? I know they're the only ones you really care about."  
Keith sighed. "Sophia's not here yet, and Lance won't look at me without flipping me the bird. With his eyes. And his hands."   
Lance silently came around the corner of the barn, and Keith, being a special agent, noticed immediately. he didn't react, assuming Lance didn't want him to.   
"I don't know what to do, Jackie." He groaned. "Should I apologize to Lance specifically? I know I fucked up, and they know I fucked up. So what's stopping them from kicking me out?"   
Lance sat down next to Keith, a few inches away and not looking at him.   
"I don't know..." Jack replied. "Maybe... Just tell Lance that he already knows everything you could say as means of an apology, tell him he doesn't have to forgive you, but you have the entire USA government on your side, so he better watch it."   
They laughed, and Lance watched Keith's face out of the corner of his eye, taking in how much he looked like a human when he was acting like one.   
"That's really helpful, Jack." Keith snickered. "What are you going to do, hmm? Send in the manila folders? Maybe staple my family to death?"   
Lance was surprised to hear him call the McLain's his family, and turned his head to face him, eyes wide. Keith glanced over at him, smiling and pleading at once with his eyes.   
"Hey, Jack?" Keith said. "Yeah, tell President Trump I'll call him in the morning... Ok, thanks. Love you too. bu-bye."   
Lance's jaw touched the ground. "Mr. Presedant? You're calling the president in the morning?" He was bewildered. "What do you do for a living?"   
Keith gazed at him carefully, shifting his weight. "Do you really want to know, or are you just asking?"   
Lance paused, thinking it over. So Keith knew he had been an asshole. A dick. A bastard. That didn't mean he wasn't still those things but... Maybe he wasn't? Lance nodded, smiling slightly. "I want to know." He said.   
Keith looked at him for a second before returning the smile. "I'm a special agent of the US military. Specifically, I'm on the president's secret service. This is my only vacation all year.   
Lance nodded. "I guess you're using your mad karate skills, huh? With how many people must want to kill Trump."   
Keith chuckled. "You could say that. I've taken 2 bullets already, plus a few in training. It's a shitty job, but I love it, you know? I love living in DC with Addam and dad, and I love how it took me 3 hours to drive here." He blushed, realizing that he went beyond the limits of the question. "S-sorry."   
Lance put a hand on Keith's shoulder. "You're still an asshole. A dick, and a total bastard. But if Sophia forgives you when she gets here tomorrow... Then I'll forgive you too."   
Keith twisted around, facing Lance, in surprise. "You don't have to-"   
Lance shook his head aggressively. "I want to. I'm no good at holding grudges." With a mischievous smirk, he locked his eyes in Keith's. "Besides, I want to get to know you better. Who knows when I'll need a favor from the US government?"   
Keith returned the smile. "You only get one get-out-of-jail-free card, Lance. I only get one veto my whole career, so don't waste it."   
\----------------  
Cleo heard conversation outside and slipped out of bed, silently wrapping herself in a black fuzzy robe and hurried to the sitting-room window, pulling the curtains and peering around. She saw Keith sitting on the bench behind the barn, Lance sitting down next to him. They talked carefully, quietly, then started to laugh, Lance putting one hand on Keith's shoulder. Cleo went stiff watching Lance forgive Keith. She would never forgive him. He was a rotten son of a bitch, and he deserved the anger of the whole family. What were her siblings thinking? Were they insane? They knew what Keith was capable of, what he had done to this family in the past.   
Why were they so ready to let him do it again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the short chapter. I will post a very long one later/tomorrow, I promise.


	7. Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, it says there are 6 chapters, but this is chapter 8, so I'm confused... This beta needs to get its act together.   
> Comment: I beg of you.

Sophia arrived later than she thought she would. Around 10 am, her new-old Subaru parked between a 'Kit' lookalike and a shiny blue Chrysler. Grabbing her numerous bags and stumbling out of the front seat, she was instantly attacked.   
Yelping in surprise as a hand covered her mouth, she heard a shush from behind.   
"No one's awake other than me, Sophia." Benjamin's voice filled her ears. She nodded that she understood, dropped her bags, spun around and punched him hard on the shoulder. He groaned and picked up some of her bags. "Come on, sis." He said. "Yet's get some breakfast in you."   
\---------------------

-Flashback-  
Lance switched his hips as his voice crooned through the dorm.   
"If crazy equals genius then I'm a fucking arsonist!"   
Hunk grabbed Allura and danced her across the living room floor, and Pidge shrieked with laughter from the couch, rolling on her back.   
"You can set yourself on fire..." The song ended and Lance stumbled over to where Hunk was dancing Allura around the floor, slipping his arms around her waist.   
"Wanna set me on fire?" He mumbled into her hair, biting her ear gently. She pulled away from him, shaking her head.   
"Not while you're drunk, Lance. That didn't end well last time, and it won't be any different now."   
With a whine, he dropped to the couch, taking Pidge's beer off the table and finishing it before his friends could stop him. Pidge grabbed the empty bottle and scowled.   
"Lance, you don't even like beer!" They reminded him, tossing the glass into the nearby trashcan.   
"So?" Lance drawled. "I like being drunk..."   
Allura put on her coat. "Hunk, did you drink tonight?" He shook his head. "Can you drive me home? I'm not quite at Lance level, but I wouldn't pass a breathalyzer."   
"Sure." Hunk nodded, grabbing his own coat and keys. "I'll pick you up tomorrow morning, we can pick up your car."   
"Sounds good!" She said, leaning over and kissing an already unconscious(and drooling...) Lance, waving to Pidge, and leaving.   
Pidge started to head towards her bed, scooping paper plates into the trash as they did, when Lance rolled off the couch. With a sigh, they went over and half-dragged him to his bed.   
"You'll be fucking sick in the morning." She said.   
"Ima marry Allura..!" He declared out, before drifting into sleep.   
\--------------------------  
Keith woke up the next morning in a room that was not his. At first, he thought he was still dreaming, as gazed up at the beige ceiling identical to the room he'd shared with Lance way back when. He sat up slowly and saw that Lance was curled against him.   
Keith's eyes went wide, and he pulled back, pressing himself against the wall, and grabbing at his hip, finding his holster empty.   
Lance stirred and sat up on one arm. He looked confused for a second as he recognized Keith, but then he smiled.   
"Good morning!" He said, pulling himself to an upright position. "You good?"   
"I'm going to speak slowly in case you're drunk," Keith informed the other boy. "Why am I in your room? What happened? And where is my gun?"   
Lance blushed, turning red from the tips of his ears to his freckled chin. "We were talking last night and you fell asleep. I wasn't sure which room was yours, so..." He shook his head, sliding out from under the covers. "Seriously? Your gun is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?"   
Keith relaxed a bit, knowing that was all there was, and pushed off the edge of the bed, finding his clothes and boots in a pile at the foot. He looked down at himself and found that he was wearing his pressurized blacksuit. He kept it on at all times, under casual clothes and uniform alike. "Why am I undressed?" He asked, weary again.   
"I was curious as to why you wore a latex turtleneck under your pajamas." Lance shrugged, facing away from Keith and pulling off his teeshirt as Keith began to dress.   
"Here," Lance offered, holding up a hairbrush. "I don't have a mirror and you have a serious bed head."   
A moment, then Keith nodded. "Thanks." Lance sat down and wrapped 1 leg across Keith's waist, putting the other beside him. Keith lifted his arms awkwardly. "Um?"   
"Oh!" Lance went stiff and dropped the brush. "Sorry-I-Is this ok?"   
"Yeah, no, I just don't know what to do with my hands." He smiled, turning a little to face Lance, who's face was red and grinning. He glanced around and turned a deeper shade when he saw that the brush had landed in Keith's lap. Reaching for it, he gave an apologetic smile, finding it with his fingers just as the door slammed open.   
"Lance, I can't find Keith and-" Daniel's eyes went wide as he saw the position that the boys were in. "Wha-" He turned a sick green and closed the door loudly, running down the hall.   
A moment passed.   
"You can move your hand now," Keith told him gently.   
"Oh!" Lance pulled away quickly. "Sorry."   
"Why are you being nice. And forgiving." Keith shook his head. "I don't deserve this family's forgiveness."  
"Yeah, but we're really terrible at holding grudges," Lance said, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I've not forgiven you, anyway, just... I made room in my heart for being your friend."   
Keith looked at him. "Thank you." He said. "But really, where's my gun."   
They laughed and Lance handed the weapon to him, leading him to the door.   
\-----------------  
"Cleo! Benjamin! Rachel!" Daniel ran into the main house, bursting through the kitchen doors to find his siblings silently eating breakfast.   
"Hombre?" Rachel put down her coffee. "What is it? What's wrong?"   
"Lance and Keith were-" He took a deep breath. "Lance, and Keith, and the bed... Oh, god." He slumped against the table.  
"What about the bed?" Benjamin was near laughter, but still unsure.  
"Lance was sitting behind Keith, and he had his legs around his waist and his hand in his lap and they were smiling and their faces-" he grabbed Benjamin's face and pulled it up to his, ignoring the squeal from his younger brother. "-were this close! This close, hombre!"   
Cleo had a hand over her mouth, and Rachel was pale and stiff.   
"I knew Lance swung that way but..." Cleo shook her head, appalled. "I can't believe this. It can't be true."   
"I saw it Cleo, with my own eyes! It was shocking, but they looked totally calm before they saw me..."   
"Does this mean Lance has forgiven Keith?" Benjamin asked the question everyone was thinking. "Because I can't. I just can't."   
"Me neither," Cleo added.   
"I third that." Rachel said. "Let's not speak of this to Keith. We can find Lance alone sometime and ask, but Keith doesn't need to know we saw anything."   
"Too late," Keith said, leaning against the frame of the kitchen. "What do you think you saw?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLIFFHANGER MWAHAHA I AM DEVIOUS


	8. The World At Our Backs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY I know I haven't posted in a while, but I'm planning to post a batman x joker fic soon, and I want to finish this one first. Expect it to end writhing the next 10-ish chapters. Sorry. Thank you for reading and being patient! I won't bother you any more, enjoy....

"What do you think you saw?" Keith said, his professional, no-blush it's-mode switching on. "Because I can tell already that you're wrong."   
"Why were you in Lance's room?" Rachel asked.   
"We were talking last night and I fell asleep. Most likely to avoid waking you all up by opening every door in the guesthouse to find my room, he let me sleep in his."   
"What were you wearing?" Benjamin giggled, and Cleo lowered her eyes.   
Rightfully so, it seemed, because Keith pulled off his tee-shirt, revealing the black suit over his narrow, muscular frame.   
"Black latex body suit." he explained. "I wear it under my clothes. Bulletproof, flexible, and overall comfortable."   
"Why do you need a bulletproof exposition on vacation?" Benjamin ventured.   
"In my line of work, people always want to get me out of the way. You never know."   
"And that fucking position?" Cleo's voice was ice, cutting through the awkward atmosphere. "Why were you in Lance's lap?"   
"He wasen't in my lap Cleo." Lance came into the room, grabbing the orange juice and pouring himself a glance with shaking hands.  
"I had terrible bed head." Keith said, cutting a glance at Lance(Ooh, that rhymed!). "Since there's no mirror in his room, he offered to fix it for me."   
Cleo sneered. "And his hand just happened to be on your-"  
"He dropped the hairbrush into my lap and he was retrieving it. Nothing more." Keith glared at her, silent until she stood and walked up to him, her tiny frame dwarfed in comparison to him.   
"I don't care if Lance and the others forgive you-though frankly I can't see why they would. But I will never forget the look on CLeo's face when she woke up and you were gone. You fucking bastard." She shoved Keith's shoulders as she brushed by, slamming out of the kitchen.   
"Great job, Keith!" She shouted as she stomped down the porch. "You found another way to fuck up this family: By comming back to it!"   
Keith sagged, head in his hand. "I just want you all to be happy."   
"You know what would make us happy?" Benjamin said, storming past him. "If you left and let us forget you."   
"He doesn't mean that." A voice came from the doorway as Rachel and Daniel hurried upstairs to avoid the drama. "Don't worry, Keith, they'll come around."   
He turned slowly and saw Sophia with her lip quivering, tears already in her eyes.   
"Hi." He said.   
"Hi." She said.   
"I'm sorry." He said.   
"I forgive you." She said.   
"You don't have to." he said.   
"I want to." She said.   
"I guess that means I forgive you too, huh mullet?" Lance smacked his shoulder. "Though it probably doesn't help that now they think you're making a move on me."   
"Shut up, man." Keith laughed, nudging Lance's shoulder. And then Sophia was wrapping her arms around his waist, her head buried in his shoulder, sobbing.   
"I missed you." He whispered into her hair."   
"I missed you more." She responded, choking on tears and soaking through the black stealth suit he still hadn't covered up.   
\--------------------------  
"Thank you for this family, thank you for this life, and thank you for bringing Keith ack to us. Amen." Missy was smiling, here eyes twinkling under their lids.   
"Amen." Her children muttered grudgingly, unwilling to accept that Keith was a blessing. To them, he was a curse.   
"Thank you for the meal, Missy." Keith said after taking a bit. "And thank you for accepting me back into your home after what I did."   
"Is not your fault, mijo." She responded, buttering a roll. "My children.. Eh, they will forgive and forget. All you have to do is show them why."   
Cleo shook her head. "May I be excused? I think I'm getting sick sharing his air." Cleo and Benjamin had stopped using his name. Bastard. Dick. Asshat. The popular one right now was "Him". Like he was the devil. Or Voldemort. Or both of them combined.   
"No." Missy said simply. "And apologies."   
"Sorry for telling the truth." She snipped, and stood up, pushing her chair in.   
"Where are you going, Cleo? Sit back down!"   
"I'm not a kid, mom, and I won't eat with a monster at the table." She wasen't angry when she said it; she was just stating facts.   
"Mijo, come back!"   
Benjamin stood silently, Cleo already gone. "I'm tired, mama. I didn't sleep well last night. I'm going to bed." And he left with ought another word.   
Missy frowned and crushed her buttery roll in her hand, greasing her fingers. My family is falling apart." She mused with a sad chuckle.   
"Maybe..." Keith sighed. "Maybe I should go."   
Missy and Lance looked up in surprise and the littles squinted at their food.  
"Keith-" Lance started, but Keith wouldn't let him finish.   
"You can't tell me that this isn't my fault. I broke your hearts once, and by trying to fix it, I broke you even more." He shook his head and stood, resigned. "I think I'll just take my things and go."   
"No, Keith, please..." Missy choked. "I've lost you once. I can't loose you again."   
"You aren't loosing me, Missy." He said. "You're letting me go." He went to the door and hesitated, turning and giving Lance a smile. "It's for the best."   
And then he walked out, out of the kitchen and to the guest house, heading to pack his things.   
"At least he said goodbye this time." Josephine said quietly, and Lance and Missy went stiff.   
"Lance, mijo, go find your sister. Bring her back so I can give her a talking to."   
"Yes mami."   
\-------------------------  
"Cleo!" Lance called as he ventured further into the woods, towards the old stream. "Cleo are you-" He spotted her phone light, blue, and lighting up her angry face. "Cleo! Mami want's to tal to you."   
"Tell her I've gone mute." She said drily.  
"If I don't bring you back, she'll beat my ass along with yours, so come one!" Lance said, resting a hand on his little sisters shoulder. She pushed him off, but he gripped her again, harder, trying to be authorities and assertive and... Some other "I've".   
"I'm not going back there." She snarled.   
"Keith's gone, if that's what's bothering you."   
Cleo stood angrily and shoved Lance's shoulders.   
"He came back and-"   
Shove. "Built us up with-"  
Shove. "All of that bullshit about-"   
Shove. They were nearing the water now. "-Forgiveness and then-"   
Shove. Their feet splashed in the cold water, breaking through the thin edge layer of ice. "-has the guts to leave?" She screamed with no words really.   
"That!" Shove. "Fucking!" Shove. "Bastard!" Shove. Lance fell backwards into the water, breaking through the ice, a current pulling him under.   
\-------------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLIFHANGER BAM


	9. The Forgiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing to say.

Keith put the last of his bags in the car and went around to the front, pausing as he survayed the area, looking at this farm where he'd lived, maybe for the last time. Cleo ran past him towards the house screaming for her mother.   
Keith ran up and grabbed her shoulders as Missy banged through the door. "What happened?" He demanded.   
"Lance, and I was angry, and he fell int eh river, and-" LKeith didn't need to hear any more. He pushed her aside gently into her mother's arms and bolted for the woods, trying to rembering which of the old paths led to the river.   
\---------------------------  
-Flashback-  
Lance was skipping stones in the winding river him and Daniel had found a few years ag. They called it "Lovers Ravine" because there was a stone on the other side with the names of every couple who had crossed it. Also, above those names, was a carved notice, maybe 20 years old, at least.   
It read, "Lovers Ravine."  
"If your love is real, you can cross it. If not, you get sucked under. Legend says that couples who try this simply to save their marriage drown on stepping in. Swim across and you get to sign your name, but if you don't make it to the other side... We'll see ya in the after life."   
\-------------------------------  
Keith ignored the obvious path, knowing it would be faster to cut across. He bashed through the trees, pulling off the flannel top and jeans he had put on for the drive back, revealing his black exo-suit. Scratches covered his hands from ripping branches and vines apart, but he didn't care. All he could think was,   
"Please God, not him. Not Lance."   
\---------------------------------  
Lance a banged on the ice, trying not to scream, knowing that if he did, he'd only loose air faster. The current was pulling him further out, almost to the middle of the river now, and deep. It was a struggle to reach to surface enough to punch at the ice. His lungs burned for air and the cold water numbed his legs, making it impossible to really swim.   
"I'm drowning." He thought. His eyes stung from the cold water, and his vision began to blur.   
\---------------------------------  
Keith reached the river and saw Missy and Benjamin and Cleo and everyone else come tumbling down the path, crying outweigh fear for Lance. He ignored them. Destractions. He grabbed a coiled up rope and wished he'd brough the repelling gear from his office tote.   
Tying the rope to a thick branch not far from the river bank, he prayed the old rope was long enough to reach Lance, strong enough to hold them both.   
"Please, God, not him. Not Lance."   
With a deep breath, he ran out onto the river.  
\----------------------------------  
-Flashback-  
Daniel brought a girl there once. They couldn't make it across, and Lance's cousin Larry had to save them. Mami didn't let Lance play there any more after that.   
\----------------------------------  
The ice cracked and spider-webbed under his feet, but Keith didn't care. He ran until he saw a shadow under the water, and heard a tapping near his feet. He brushed aside some leaves that were resting and saw Lance. His Lance. Lance. His lips were blue and his eyes were half closed. The under tow was pulling him. Keith stood and took another deep breath, before jumping onto that ice with all of his weight.  
\------------------------------------  
Lance closed his eyes. He saw Keith above him just a second ago, didn't't he? no, Keith was gone. If it was possible for Lance to cry, he would have. He felt his body go limp as he lost sight of the ice, drifting down towards the river bed.   
\------------------------------------  
"Please, God, not him. Not Lance."   
Keith swam through the fudged water with his eyes wide open, knowing that he was reaching the end of his literal top, and soon he would be completely with ought light.   
"Please, God, not him. Not Lance."   
\------------------------------------  
-Flashback-  
Lance went to the river for the first time in years when Keith came. Keith followed him. He didn't say anything, just pulled off his shirt and dove in.  
\-----------------------------------  
Keith spotted Lance further down, unconscious. He swam harder, feeling his lungs bursting, letting go of the rope.  
\----------------------------------  
Missy held her children against her. They had been under for quite some time, and she shuddered with her tears.   
"They're not coming back up, are they?" Cleo whimpered, and when no one responded, she sunk to her knees.   
\-----------------------------------  
-Flashback-  
Obviously it was a chalange. Lance stripped and swam out after him, ignoring his brother Benjamin's voice, shouting for their mother. He caught up to Keith and the Raven-haired boy had the nerve to smile at him. It was a real smile. Not the cocky smile he'd had on during his inauguration to the family. Not a fake smile. Lance couldn't help but smile back.   
\------------------------------------  
Keith grabbed Lance's waist with both hands, pulling his limp body hard to his chest. He twisted and ignored the under tow, straining back towards the rope.   
"Please, God, not him. Not Lance."   
\-------------------------------------  
-Flashback-  
They kept, swimming, and Lance heard Daniel's voice from the shore.   
"Rembering the sign, you idiot!" He called. "You'll never make it!"   
\---------------------------------------  
Keith found the rope with his hands, fumbled twice trying to grab it. His hands were numb, there was no way he could pull them both up.   
\----------------------------------------  
Cleo screamed as the rope went tight, knowing that it meant one thing. Daniel and Benjamin grabbed the rope and heaved, pulling against the current and the weight and the fear. Pulling with all of their might.   
\-----------------------------------------  
Keith tied the rope around Lance's waist, watching as the boys on the shore pulled him up.   
"Please, God, not him. Not Lance."  
\----------------------------------------  
-Flashback-  
Lance got distracted, hearing his brothers words, and his foot got caught between two rocks. He cried out as he was pulled under, but Keith grabbed his hand and Lanced their fingers. For some reason, this bastard's grip comforted him. Keith dislodged his foot and pulled them both back the the surface.   
\-----------------------------------------  
Keith dragged himself onto the ice and watched them pull Lance's body in.   
\-----------------------------------------  
Lance felt something tight around his waist and his eyes fluttered open. He couldn't breath. Why couldn't he breath.   
He formed on word on his lips, but couldn't push out sound.   
"Keith?"   
\--------------------------------  
Keith staggered across the ice, his suit dripping wet. At this rate he'd keel over before he could do anything for Lance, but he kept walking. He made it to the beech and wrapped any towel offered to him, any blanket, around Lance.   
"Please, God, not him." He whispered. "Not Lance."   
\-------------------------------------  
-Flashback-  
Lance didn't let go of Keith's hand the whole time.   
They made it to the other shore.  
\-----------------------------------  
Lance could feel someone pressing on his chest, trying to force the dark weight inside out, but it wouldn't budge. He was just so cold.  
\---------------------------  
Keith was crying now, and it scarred the McLains. Keith was cold and unfeeling and dry. Not... This. This was a mess of sick and sad and broken and... real. Liveing and Liveing and human.  
\----------------------------  
Keith pressed his mouth over Lance's, forcing breath into him. Once. Twice. He sobbed, squeezing the boys hand. Once. Twice.   
\-----------------------------  
Lance felt warm. It started at his lips and spread, lifting the dark cold from his chest over and over and over again.   
\----------------------------  
Keith pressed his forehead to Lance's chest.  
"Please, God, not him. Not Lance."   
\-------------------------  
"Please, God, not him. Not Lance."   
The words floated over Lance, filling him with warmth and breath. The warm air filled his lungs again and he pitched to sitting, spewing water and bile and pasta onto his lap. His eyes opened carefully and he felt himself shake. He was still cold. But he saw Keith sobbing and gripping his hand, and great full smile on his face as he gazed up at the sky.   
Lance choked and spat up a bit more and tapped Keith's cheek with his half-frozen fingers.   
Keith looked at him like he'd just risen from the sea.  
"Hi." He said.   
"Hi." Lance said.   
"I'm sorry." Lance said.   
"I forgive you." Keith said.   
"I missed you." Lance said, feeling hot tears run over his cold cheeks.   
"Please, God." He heard Keith cry into his shoulder. "Not him. Not Lance. Not yet."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it and appreciated it and I'm sorry I ahven't posted as much a few more chapters and I'm gonna end this fic... So thanks!


	10. What Are These Hospital Gowns Suposed to Cover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So... Happy birthday to me?

Keith woke up in the ICU, wearing pants, but no shirt, which he thought was strange. Turning his head a bit to look around him, he saw Lance in the bed 4 feet away from him.  
"Lance?" My throat is sore and my muscles are burning, but I can tell that he's worse off. 1 arm in in a cast, he lay unconscious in the bed. His lips were light blue and there were bruises all over his face and chest. "Lance." I whisper.  
Please, God, not him. Not Lance.  
Keith hit the call button and imidiatly a nurse and a doctor came in.  
"Doctor Philip?" He croaked when he saw the man. "How did you get here?"  
"I heard you were in an accident." His usual doctor told him. "So I rushed right over."  
"Thank you." He smiled tiredly. "Will Lance be alright?"  
"You'll be fine, but"- Doctor Philip looked at him, confused. "Lance? Lance McLain?"  
Keith nodded and dragged himself to sitting. "Will he be ok?"  
Philip scowled. "I-I'm not sure." He hesitated. "We're you trying to save him, Keith? Is that why you jumped in the river?"  
Keith nodded again. "I'm sorry to inconvenience the presidents second best doctor." He rolled his eyes. "Tell me exactly what's wrong with Lance."  
Still bewildered(Keith wasen't protective of anyone but Shiro and the the president. It was shocking to see him act this way about Lance), the doctor told him.  
"He's comatose with pneumonia and frostbite. One of his arms is broken, his left ankle is sprained, and he has so many dead nerves in his hips that we're running tests for parylasis. You should be glad it's him and not you." Philip looked back at Keith and saw tears clouding his eyes, but only one drop run down his scratched up face.  
"Keith?" He said gently. "You alright?"  
Keith didn't respond. He didn't have to. Doctor Philip sat on the edge of the bed and waved the muse away.  
"How do you know this boy?" He asked.  
And Keith told him.  
\------------------------------  
-Flashback-  
Keit stepped out of his bathroom with a yawn, pulling off his tee shirt and frowning at the unconscious boy in his bed. He didn't know him very well, just that his name was Jackie and he was studying to become a file clerk in the secret service. Keith pushed his shoulder and the blonde man startled awake, falling off the bed.  
"Oi, Jackie." Keith said, grabbing a clean shirt and pulling it over his head. "We're friends, cool?"  
Jackie looked at him for a second before nodding and going up to shake his hand.  
"I'm Jackie Colmer."  
Keith smiled-everyone smiled around Jackie. "I'm Keith Kognage."  
"You're in most of my classes." Jackie reminded him, accepting a clean sweater offered to him. "What're you in for?"  
"I'll be a tactical agent on his service." Keith mused, looking at his toned figure in the wall mirror, and Jackie stepped up behind him with a crazy grin.  
"Yeah." He said. "I can see that. Maybe I'll be your ground control, you know?" He jostled Keith's shoulder. "We'll be the keystone combination of the secret service!"  
Keith had to laugh a little. Comparing government work to baseball... He wasen't all that off. "Yeah." Keith said. "Maybe we will."  
-Flashback End-


	11. Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IM SO SORRY I'm going to finish this fic today and maybe tomorrow. I've been uber busy with school and extra classes and dealing with online stuff and family and.. Ugh. But you guys don't care about my life, just my writing. That's what I like about you. So here ya go. Enjoy, cause it's about to get ANGSTY nad SMUTTY so don't say I didn't warn ya.

Dr. Philip nodded. "That's... Huh." He shook his head. "Mr. Kogane, I knew you had a tragic backstory, but I didn't realize it was that..."   
"Tragic?" Keith finished dryly. His doctor nodded.   
"In regards to Mr. McLAin, he'll probably be fine." He gave Keith a sideways glance, raising one eyebrow. "You know, they're are legends about that river.."   
"Don't push it, Dr. Phil." Keith snarled. "When can I get out of here?"   
"Today, if you feel well enough." Philip said, standing and grabbing his clipboard. He made a note, and handed a paper to Keith. "Just give this to the receptionist."   
"Thanks, man." He shook his hand as he stood, grabbing a black tank that had been left for him. "How's Jackie?"   
Philip sighed. "You probably know better than I do. I'm his father and he still talks to you more that me."   
"Yeah, well..." Keith shook his head. "I'm his brother. What'd you expect?"   
\--------------------------  
Lance heard Keith's voice and opened his eyes carefully. Next to his bed On the side he was faceing was a nightstand and a window, so little light coming through he could tell it was night(Still? Again? How long had he been out?). He rolled his head over and saw that Keith was talking to his mother and some man in a lab coat.   
"I think I'll stay a little longer, if that's alright." He was aging.   
"It's perfectly fine." The man(A doctor tour, Lance assumed.) told him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "No Wild partys, alright?"  
Keith nodded with a laugh and brushed him off. "I'll just be typing, or making phone calls. Gotta check in at the office, you know?"   
"Yes, but mijo..." Lance felt he couldn't speak. His mother looked more tired than he'd ever seen her. "You haven't left his side yet. You know he.. He might be... Upset. If you are the one he sees. When he wakes up."   
"I know." Keith singed.(No! No! Lance was happy to see KEit, so happy! How he wished he could talk, move, tell them he was awake and seeing!")"I'm just hoping he's disoriented enough to save the kicking and screaming until after he's discharged."   
"God night Keith." The doctor said.   
"'Night Phil. I'll say hi to Jackie for ya, ok?"   
"You do that, son."   
"Goodnight Missy." Keith said, standing to hug the round woman. "I'll see you in the morning. How 'bout I make breakfast for the littles and take the day shift?"   
"You stay here all night, you take care of the children all day... Mijo, when do you sleep?" 

"I don't need sleep, Missy." Keith reminded her. "I'm a superhero."   
Missy hugged him one last time. "You're my hero. Goodnight Keith."   
"Night." Once she was gone from the room, Lance heard Keith finish his sentence under his breath.. "Mom." 

Suddenly, Lance could speak.   
"I don't hate you." He croaked, feeling his chest tighten a bit. Keith's head swung around in surprise, his eyes wide, he jumped to his feet.   
"Lance!" He whisper-shouted. "You're awake?" He hesitated. "How long have you been listening?"   
"Aren't you gonna ask me where your gun is?" Lance joked, his voice weak, though he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep again.   
Keith sat down nervously. "That's only when I wake up." he told him. "How are you feeling?"   
"Sore, but somehow refreshed. Also, I can't mover my arms and legs."   
Keith nodded. "That's normal. You are paralyzed from the waist down. And your arm is broken. So..." Keith's shoulders shook slightly. "Not the best wake-up call, huh?"  
"Nope." He said. "But I don't think mami would have been able to finish that sentence." Lance sighed. "Glad it's you."  
Keith wasen't smiling. "Really?"   
"I'm nodding inside my head." Lance croaked. "Of course."   
"After everything I did to you, what I did to your family?"   
"I get the feeling that wasen't entirely your fault." The brunette mused. "How long have I been asleep?"   
Keith smiled tiredly. "Almost 2 weeks." He said. If Lance could have shot up in bed, he would have, but he couldn't.   
"You're joking." He coughed.   
"No, unfortunately I'm not." Keith moved from the chair to the edge of the bed, seeming much more comfortable.   
"Is what mami said true?" Lance asked. "You stay here with me at night and take care of the younger kids during the day?"   
Keith said yes, it was true. "I would miss a million years of sleep to make sure you were safe." He said this quietly, half hoping Lance wouldn't hear.   
"Why?" Lance did hear. "I held a grudge and only tried to call if I was drunk."   
Keith looked at him in shock. "You called?"   
"Once. I was wasted and I thought..." Lance sighted and sank into the pillows. "I thought you would help me feel like I wasen't so fucked up."   
"Why me?"   
"Cause you're the most put together person I know." Lance said. "And I love you."   
Keith gazed at him, and one tear ran down his face, making a damp spot on the white sheet.   
"Holy shit, Keith?" Lance yelped. "Are you crying?"   
"You love me?" Keith stuttered. "But-I-You..."   
"We made it acros the river." Lance interrupted. "Twice, we made it across the river twice."   
"Technecaly," Keith laughed, sobbing. "We made it across one and a half times."   
"Technecaly my ass." Lance tried moving one of his arms and few relived that it responded. He cupped Keith's cheek with trembling fingers. "I'm alive aren't I?"   
"Barely." Keith laced his fingers over the other boys. "But I'm glad you are."   
Lance stared at the Keith, feeling like he was seeing him for the first time. "You're a pretty cryer." He whispered.   
"Shut up McLain." Keith laughed into his hand, kissing the pad of his thumb gently.   
Lance yawned, feeling his energy wear thin. "You're a McLain...Too."   
Keith shook his head. "No, I'm not."   
Lance's eyes closed. "Then I'll make you one..."   
And then he was asleep.


	12. Flowers Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've put a total chapter number up, if you didn't notice. Hope you are all safe and well, and ready for shit to hit the mother fing fan.

Keith woke up in the hospital, just like he had every night for the last two weeks. He sat up slowly and noticed that he had moved back into the bedside chair at some point in the night. Lance was still asleep, but Keith hit the call button anyway, knowing the man would be up soon enough.   
What did he mean, he would make Keith a McLain? That could be taken so many ways, and Keith was frazzled trying to decide weather or not this was a train of thought he wanted to continue. Did Lance realy love him? How could he? He didn't know Keith very well, Keith had made sure of that. All he knew about him was he was a asshole who couldn't handle comiment. Why did that make Lance love him? Did Lance have a dirtbag kink or something?  
His thoughts were interrupted by Dr. Philip. He came rushing in and saw that Lance was still asleep.   
"Keith." He said, confused. "Has Lance waken up?"   
Keith nodded and watched the doctors face twist in surprise. "Call his family. I'm sure he'll be awake soon."   
Phil just stood there, staring at Lance, at Keith, at how comfortable Keith had grown in that room.   
"Are we paying you to gape, Phil?" Keith jabbed.  
"Actually, Jackie pulled enough strings that they aren't paying me at all." Phil stammered, before giggling nervously and exiting the room.   
The reunion was supposed to be over little more than a week ago. "You have any idea how much work I'm missing for this?" Keith said, cutting his eyes to Lance's sleeping form.   
"Not much I hope." Lance yawned, opening his eyes. "We're you watching me sleep?"   
"No TV." Keith said, standing to close the windows in an effort to hide his blush. "Nothing else to watch."   
"I see." Lance pulled himself to sitting and Keith rushed over to either stop him or help him, he wasen't quite sure, and ended up propping pillows behind him and helping lean him back against them.   
"So..." Keith said once he was perched on his chair. He didn't know if Lance would even rember what he said at four am last night in a post-coma momentary wake up.   
"I rember everything I said, if that's what your wondering." Lance seemed to read Keith's mind, and Keith laughed.   
"Then you must think I'm a sap and a fool."   
"Actually, I thought you might think that about me." Lance admitted, allowing a small smile. "I had a nightmare that you and Allura trashed my car. It was horrible!"   
"I thought people didn't dream when they're in comas?" Keith asked.   
"Obviously you thought wrong." Lance told him.   
"How is it possible you love me?" Keith blurted, but Lance didnt seem fazed.   
" 'Let me count the ways'..." He joked, but Keith didn't laugh.   
"I'm serious, Lance. All you've ever known me to be was-"  
"Handsom, intelligent, strong, and excellent at karate?" Lance stopped him. "You may think you're better off alone and all that, but you can be loving and you can be loved, if you let yourself."   
Keith looked like a tomato, which was a stellar change from his usual milky complexion. "What fortune cookie did you get that from?" He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, embarassed.   
"I mean it, Keith." Lance reached out with his good arm, and Keith took it. "You are... A beautiful, mislead man. And I want to be there. All you have to do is let me.  
Keith stared at him, and the first thought that came to mind was, "Damn, whatever painkillers they got you on, get me some of that!" But he didn't say it because, looking at Lance's trembling, exhausted body, he knew Lance had just poured his hear out to Keith, about Keith. So Keith did what he though he could do. He stood, walked slowly to the bed, and sat on the edge. He leaned over to Lance and brushed the back of his hand against the boy's cheek, raising his eyebrows with question. Lance nodded, just barely, so Keith closed the space between them. Lance's mouth was open under his, but he didn't slip inside. He just eased the brunette slips closed and press his nose to his cheek, both loving the feeling of the other's kiss. Keith's mouth was weak from disuse, being that he hadn't kissed anyone, let alone someone he wanted to, in a long time. So Lance took the lead, moving his chin gently to deepen the kiss.   
Sophia couldn't hold in her laughter anymore. She giggled, and the boys broke apart, Keith spinning into the corner of the room.   
The entire family was in the doorway, in various states of reaction. Sophia was choking on her laughter, the younger kids were disgusted, Cleo and Benjamin were shocked, and Rachel was covering Daniel's eyes while he covered their mother's eyes.   
"Oh, mijo!" Missy said, tears dripping from under Daniel's fingers. "I'm so glad."   
"Seriously, guys, the sexual tension was killing us." Sophia snickered. "Took you long enough."   
"I'm confused," Benjamin voiced. "Do we hate Keith or not?"   
The family exchanged glances, and Cleo wrapped her arms around her big brother's waist, resting her chin on his shoulder.   
"Not." She whispered.


	13. Battle Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't feel like incorrectly describing the process of being discharged from the hospital, I'm gonna time-skip and put us here, on the day Lance is discharged in a wheelchair with one arm in a cast and a bandage across his right eye. Just to be clear, Keith and Lance did not have crazy sex in the hospital bed during the time I am time skipping. They actually haven't done anything but talk and take "walks". So... Enjoy the process of them realizing they can still fuck in a wheelchair.   
> Als a random thought, if you haven't hear Shir's rendition of that song "Heard that you were talkin shit and you didn't think I would hear it..." And Lotor's "Ima bitch" then you haven't lived. So go forth. And read. And expect me to write Last Airbender fan fiction.

"You're finally out, mijo!" Missy laughed and she pulled in the driveway. I'm sorry your sibling couldn't stay to see you, but..."  
"Mami, it's ok." Lance reached forward and patted her shoulder with his good hand. "They have lives and family's. I'm proud of Daniel and Rachel. They finally moved away, huh?"   
"I will miss the, but I am proud as well." Missy went around the car to roll her son's wheelchair out the back. "They are strong people, they will get by."   
"I know they will." Lance figured he could get his mother to drive him home to Cali once he had mastered the wheelchair and his arm had healed. He couldn't stop thinking about Keith. Keith pushing his chair around the gardens behind the hospital, Keith smiling at him and talking to him as they fell asleep, Keith babysitting the youngest McLains every day and sleeping in the hospital with Lance every night, Keith singing to him when he was crying about the wheelchair, his voice low and sweet, not husky like Lance had expected. Keith making calls to the preceding and his friend Jackie about how much extra time he was taking from work, talking quietly so Lance wouldn't hear.(He always heard. It reminded him of laying in bed at night, hearing his parents argue about how broke they were, or the fact that his father was to lose his job.)   
He wheeled himself slowly to his bedroom, which had been moved to the first floor room in the main house. Basically, he'd switched with his mother. This was unfortunate, since he was no longer across from Keith, but neccicary. Keith was long gone, anyway.   
Lance was sitting in his chair by the window of his room when someone came in. He assumed it was him mom or a sibling or a doctor and he didn't look up, even when the person put their hands on his shoulders. Their hands... Lance knew those hands. He whipped his head around to see Keith staring at the sunset through the foggy glass.   
"Keith!" He yelled. "What are you doing here? I thought you went back to DC!"   
"Funny coincidence," Keith informed him, gazing down at him fondly. "The president sent a private jet to pick me up. I got to DC in a few hours and he asked what had kept me. I told him that the love of my life almost drowned and he was now in a wheelchair and-"   
"Love of your life?" Lance tried to direct Keith back to the coment, to no avail.  
"He put me on emergency call only." Keith finished, moving around to the front of Lance and sitting carefully on the window bench.   
"What's that mean?" Lance asked, grabbing one of Keith's hands in both of his.   
"It means I get paid the same, I get a mountain of paper work to finish every week, and I only have to be with him for international democratic conventions."   
Lance looked at him-boyfriend? Significant other? Lover? They hadn't discussed.- in confusion and Keith refrained.   
"I get to stay with you. No matter where you are. And I still get paid."   
Lance pulled Keith down to his level and hugged him, hard, arms around his neck, face buried in his shoulder.   
"Thank you..." He murmured. "Thank you..."   
"Hey, the long-distance thing never works. And besides-" KEith pulled back a bit and pressed a light kiss to Lance's mouth, surprised him. "-This way, I'm the first to know when my boyfriend can get robot legs."   
"Robot legs are probably super exspencive." Lance in formed the man with the mullet, running his fingers through that dark hair.   
"I get an employee discount." Keith told him with a playful smile.   
Lance kissed KEith once more and then Keith helped Lance to bed, lifting him from the chair bridal style and folding the blankets over him.   
"Night sleeping beuty." Keith said.   
"Won't comments like that put me in another coma?" Lance yawned, squeezing his boyfriends hand.   
"They better not." Keith said, kissing Lance's forehead.   
"Hey, Keith?" Lance asked and Kthe other man started to leave.   
"Hmm."   
"Will you marry me?"   
Keith flicked the light back on, starring at Lance in surprise. "What?"   
Lance reached into the side pouch of his wheelchair, pulling out a small black box in shaking hands.  
"I had Phil buy it for me." He explained. "I told you I'd make you a McLain, didn't I?"   
Keith nodded slowly, taking a step towards Lance and hesitating.   
"Keith." Lance said, his voice cracking. "Marry me?"   
Keith couldn't say no. Not because hie was disabled or pathetic or super rich or any of those 'Ok-fine-yes' reasons. No, he loved Lance with all of his being, and now he had the chance to show it.   
"Yes." He said, swallowing sobs. "Yes, God, yes." He went to the bed and Lance shuffled to sitting, leaning against the wall, and Keith opened the box, sniffling and crying =and Lance combed through his long-ish hair. Missy came to the door on the cue of tears.   
"What's wro-" She stopped short when she saw Lance pull his hands out of Keith's hair and pull one of the rings from the box, gold and silver wound together. He slipped it onto Keith's finger and Keith put the other one on him. Lance tilted his head foreword and Keith kissed him gently. Missy covered her face with her hands, sniffing. Only then did the couple notice her.   
"He promised he'd make a me a McLain." Keith explained quietly.   
Missy nodded with a small smile. "And a McLain keeps a promise."


End file.
